1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to mounting systems for coupling a steering gear housing assembly to a motor vehicle and, more particularly, to a mounting system for coupling the steering gear housing assembly to a motor vehicle chassis, including a single-piece steering gear bracket and a single-piece steering gear joint member secured to the steering gear bracket.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Conventionally, as generally illustrated in FIG. 1, a steering gear assembly 110 of a motor vehicle is commonly mounted to a cross member 2 of a vehicle chassis frame. The steering gear assembly 110 includes a steering gear housing assembly 112 and a steering mechanism (not shown) for selectively actuating a pair of opposite tie rods 113 operatively connected to steering wheels (not shown) of the motor vehicle. The steering gear housing assembly 112 further includes a generally tubular steering housing member 114 extending substantially parallel to the cross-member 2 and housing a steering mechanism, such as hydraulic actuator, and a pair of steering gear joint members 116 attached to the steering housing member 114 through corresponding spaced apart leg members 118. Currently, the steering gear housing assembly 112 is mounted to the front cross member 2 of the vehicle chassis frame through multi-piece steering gear brackets 130.
As illustrated in detail in FIG. 2, the multi-piece steering gear bracket 130 comprises a top bracket part 132, a bottom bracket part 140 and a bush part 148. The top bracket part 132 includes a horizontal flange 134 and a pair of spaced apart, vertical flanges 136 and 138 all extending from a support plate 133. The support plate 133 of the steering gear bracket 130 is welded to the cross-member 2 of a vehicle chassis frame. The horizontal flange 134 has a mounting hole 135, while the vertical flanges 136 and 138 are provided with mounting holes 137 and 139 respectively. The bottom bracket part 140 of the multi-piece steering gear bracket 130 is mounted within the top bracket part 132 and includes a horizontal flange 142 and a pair of spaced apart, vertical flanges 144 and 146 all extending from a back plate 141. The horizontal flange 142 has a mounting hole 143, while the vertical flanges 144 and 146 are provided with mounting holes 145 and 147 respectively. The bush part 148 is substantially cylindrical in shape and is provided with a bore 149 therethrough. As further illustrated in FIG. 2, the steering gear joint 116 has a substantially cylindrical body 122 having an upper end portion 122a and a lower end portion 122b, and provided with an axial bore 123 therethrough. The leg member 118 is formed integrally with the body 122 of the steering gear joint 116.
In an assembled condition, the upper end portion 122a of the body 122 of the steering gear joint 116 is secured to the horizontal flange 134 of the top bracket part 132 of the multi-piece steering gear bracket 130 with a threaded fastener 150 (shown in FIG. 1) extending through the mounting hole 135 and the axial bore 123 in the top bracket part 132 and the steering gear joint 116 respectively, while the lower end portion 122b of the body 122 of the steering gear joint 116 is secured to the horizontal flange 142 of the bottom bracket part 140 of the multi-piece steering gear bracket 130 with the same threaded fastener 150 extending through the mounting hole 143 and the axial bore 123 in the bottom bracket part 140 and the steering gear joint 116 respectively. The bottom bracket part 140 is secured within the top bracket part 132 through the bush part 148 disposed within the bottom bracket part 140, and a threaded fastener (not shown) extended through the bore 149 in the bush part 148 and the mounting holes 137 and 139 in the top bracket part 132 and the mounting holes 145 and 147 in the bottom bracket part 140, respectively.
The conventional multi-piece steering gear brackets 130 and steering gear joints 116 are complex, cumbersome, costly in manufacturing and laborious in assembly.
Accordingly, it is the intent of this invention to overcome these shortcomings of the prior art.